About Us

The Texas National Security Network unites the expertise and resources of the fourteen institutions that comprise the University of Texas System, with the goal of creating the premier university system in the country for national security work. Towards this end, the Network integrates and magnifies the efforts of scholars and centers from universities and medical branches across the state, while also directly administering an array of innovative programs.

Experts

The Texas National Security Network encompasses an amazing array of talented faculty and researchers from across the System’s fourteen institutions, some but not all of whom are part of one of our several high-impact research centers.

RESEARCH PROGRAMS

TNSN operates an array of programs intended to support security-relevant research. These include:

THE NATIONAL SECURITY RESEARCH EXCELLENCE FUND
The Fund is designed to support specific security-relevant projects undertaken by affiliated faculty and institutions from across the System, based on a competitive application process.

THE NATIONAL SECURITY SURVEY
Conducted in partnership with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, these annual surveys assess elite and popular opinion on a full spectrum of foreign, defense, and intelligence policy issues.

THE TEXAS NATIONAL SECURITY REVIEW
The Texas National Security Review (“TNSR”) will be a path-breaking journal launching later this year. It will publish peer-reviewed policy-relevant scholarship that is timely, draws on a variety of disciplines, and prioritizes accessibility for national security professionals. It is produced in close partnership with the influential foreign and defense policy blog War on the Rocks, which the Network sponsors.

FELLOWSHIPS
The Network supports an array of fellowships, including but not limited to post-doctoral positions, that expand the range of researchers.

EDUCATION PROGRAMS

The Network supports students from across the System through an array of security-related programs, including:

ARCHER CENTER NATIONAL SECURITY FELLOWS
The Archer Center provides a home in the nation’s capital for an array of educational and internship opportunities for students from across the System’s campuses. The National Security Fellows program enhances those offerings, by bringing students to DC specifically in order to intern with organizations involved in national security affairs, and thereby affording them a uniquely valuable boost to their career prospects.

OFFICERS IN RESIDENCE
The Network seeks to improve student understanding of our nation’s security-related institutions by arranging for current intelligence officials to spend time teaching as an “Officer in Residence.”

CHANCELLOR’S SCHOLARS
The Network supports generous scholarships for outstanding students interested in national security who seek an advanced degree at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

INTEGRATED CYBERSECURITY STUDIES
The Network also contributes to the increasingly critical field of cybersecurity studies in various ways, including support for interdisciplinary teams of students who seek to compete in national and regional cybersecurity-related competitions.

EVENTS

The Network emphasizes more than just research and education. It also seeks to improve public understanding of security issues by supporting conferences, panels, and other events. These include:

TEXAS NATIONAL SECURITY FORUM
The Forum is a marquee gathering of senior policymakers, intelligence officials, military officers, and scholars every fall. It consists of a two-day conference organized by the Clements and Strauss Centers, and it addresses a different national security theme each year.

THE INTELLIGENCE SYMPOSIUM
The headline spring event for the Network is a partnership with the Intelligence Studies Project, which hosts a symposium each spring focused on intelligence. These events feature the nation’s leading intelligence officials and scholars, and they help to connect more closely the multiple intelligence studies programs at UT System campuses.

TEXAS CYBERSECURITY SYMPOSIUM
The Network soon will add to its event portfolio an annual cybersecurity forum and related cybersecurity competitions.

TNSN LEADERSHIP

CO-DIRECTORS

Bobby Chesney

Director - Robert Strauss CenterProfessor - UT School of Law

William Inboden

Executive Director - Clements CenterProfessor of Public Policy - UT LBJ School of Public Affairs